EAT YOUR YARD: WILD GRAPES

From Theresa: Wild grape vines invited themselves into our yard, and I have been happy to let them grow here. I have tried several times to get cultivated grapes to grow in the sunnier parts of the yard, but they have never survived. The wild grapes, though, grow well in the shade under and near our walnut trees. I have let them grow to cover our catio, and have erected trellises for them in other parts of the yard. Some years they produce grapes, and others they don't, but we also supplement by foraging for grapes on the nearby bike path.

Wild grapes are much smaller and tarter than their sweet and juicy cultivated cousins. ​However, I think they make the best grape jelly, which is mostly how we eat them.I use the jelly to sweeten plain yogurt and oatmeal.Wild grapes can also be frozen whole, and I used to add them to very crunchy cereals (think Grape Nuts),​where they add a nice color and flavor, but you won't notice the crunch of their very large seeds.

Making Wild Grape Jelly

Harvesting:

1. We harvest grapes in our area in mid to late August. I've read that you should wait until after a frost for the best flavor, but when we've tried waiting that long, there haven't been any grapes left except the dried up ones. We keep an eye on our vines and harvest when the bunches have a large number of plump, purple grapes- each bunch usually has grapes in different stages of development- from green, to ripe and juicy, and already dried up. We dig back into the vines, looking under the leaves, to find all the grapes we can.

2. You'll need scissors or garden clippers to cut the grape bunches from the vines. As you can see, wild grapes are much smaller than cultivated grapes. They are only about a centimeter or less in diameter, and the interior is mostly seed. You should try one off the vine at least once to see how tart they are.

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Preparing the Grapes:

3. You'll end up with a pile of grapes still attached to the vine, which look like this...

4. ... so you'll need to remove the grapes from the vines by hand. This can be done in front of your favorite TV show...

5. ... if you're careful to protect your couch from grape juice stains. Pick off the ripe grapes, while discarding the ones that are too young or to old.​

6. Here's what they look like after you've removed them from the vine. One recipe I found said it's traditional to include some green grapes in your mix, so we do that. Next you'll want to measure how many cups of grapes you have.

Canning Day 1: Making Grape Juice

7. Put the grapes you've removed from the vine into a large pot on the stove, adding 1/4 cup of water for every quart of grapes (a quart is 4 cups, so that's 1/4 c water to every 4 cups of grapes).​

8. Crush the grapes by whatever means you have- we like to use our immersion blender (shown on the right). This flat spatula (on the left) is also useful. Smashing the grapes helps them release their juice.

9. Bring the grapes to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes...

10. ... stirring occasionally. This step releases more juice.

11. When the grapes are done simmering, drain out the juice. We use a mesh colander over a pan. Let the colander sit until you feel like most of the juice has dripped through. You can help this process along by stirring occasionally, but mostly it just takes patience, so go do something else for a little bit.

12. Remove the strainer and compost the grape skins. Let your pot of strained juice sit overnight in a cool place, such as the refrigerator. (One year it was late and time to go to bed, and the pot was too hot to refrigerate, so we left it out on the counter, because it was getting down to 50 degrees (F) that night.​)

Canning Day 2: Making Grape Jelly

13. The next day, we poured the juice from the pot into a large measuring cup. See the small clumps of crystals left at the bottom of the pot? Those would make your jelly gritty and unpleasant. This is why you let the juice sit overnight- so these crystals settle to the bottom, and you can pour off the juice and leave them behind.

14. Next, pour the juice from the measuring cup into a clean pot on your stove. It's not a bad idea to pour it through a strainer one more time...

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15. ... When you're almost done pouring, there will likely still be sediment at the bottom of the measuring cup, as you can see below. Don't pour it into the pot.​

16. Next, add sugar, at the rate of 3 cups sugar to 4 cups of juice, or to taste. Wild grapes are very tart, so unfortunately, we cannot skip this step.

17. Bring the juice to a boil, stirring constantly.​

18. Continue boiling and stirring, on high heat, until it's reached the gelling point (about 15 -20 minutes), then can the jelly.

How to Tell if Your Jelly has Reached the Gelling Point:

I love making wild grape jelly because if I do it right, it turns into jelly without needing to add any pectin, and to me, this is magical. The transformation from liquid to solid happens miraculously, just by adding heat.

When juice that has reached the gelling point cools off, it will solidify into the jelly texture we're all familiar with. There are different ways to tell if your jelly has reach the gelling point, and I am still trying to master them. Below is what I've learned so far. One year it didn't work correctly for me, so instead of jelly I had grape syrup, but it was still very yummy, so I couldn't really complain.

Method 1: the "Temperature Test"

My Ball Blue Book of Preserving says that you've reached the gelling point if the temperature of the juice is 8 degrees (F) above the boiling point of water.

From science class we learned that the boiling point of water is 212 degrees (F), so the gelling point would be reached at 220 degrees.

However, if you're a canner, you may remember that this is the boiling point of water at sea level, and that if you live more than 1000 feet above sea level, water will boil "furiously" at lower temperatures.

So the book suggests that you bring a pot of water to boil and see what the boiling point is at your house.

You'll need a thermometer that includes 212 degrees in it's range. We use the candy thermometer shown to the left, which attaches to the side of the pot with a clip.

We live 1187 feet above sea level, and I confess that I have never done the test to see when boiling occurs here. I can say that the temperature has never reached 220 degrees in our pots of jelly, though, so I guess I should do the test.

Method 2: the "Sheeting Test"

Next the book recommends the "Sheeting Test" for those jellies that don't need added pectin. This method has also not worked for me.

It suggests you dip a cool, metal spoon into the boiling jelling, then remove it from the steam and tip it over a dish.

At first, the jelly dropping off the spoon will be light and syrupy, but as the juice boils longer, it will have larger and slower drops, until finally it will fall off all together in one sheet or a large flake.

I try this every time I make grape jelly, but I can't say I've ever seen anything that resembles a falling sheet of jelly.

Method 3: the "Plate Test"

I've had the most success with this method. It involves placing a small plate and a metal spoon in the freezer to cool down.

To test the jelly, take a spoonful of the boiling juice and pour it on the plate. I start trying this after the jelly has boiled for 20 minutes.

Return the plate to the freezer for a few minutes. You're trying to quickly cool the jelly to room temperature.

Poke your finger into the pool of jelly and see if it's solidified. If it has, it's reached the gelling point and you're ready to can.

Method 4: The "Side of the Pot" Test

As I said, I'm still trying to figure out the best way to tell if my jelly has gelled.

I can say that while I'm stirring the boiling juice, there is definitely a time when I see a change.

I always notice a point when the juice seems to get a bit thicker, and starts to move more slowly around my spoon.

There are always splashes of grape juice on the side of the pot, but sometimes when I've been stirring for a long time, I realize that the splashes are sticking to the side of the pot, and that I can leave tracks through them when I scrape with the side of the spoon, and I realize I'm looking at gelled juice.

I'm probably way beyond the gelling point when this happens, but it doesn't seem to make any difference to the final product, so I just happily go with it.

A Final Test After the Fact

Normally, you can't tell for sure if your jelly has gelled until you've canned it and let it cool overnight.

One way to reassure yourself before then that you've reached the gelling point is to not wash your pot right away.

Let it cool while you're canning the jelly.

Once it's cool enough, you'll be able to see whether the leftovers in the pot have solidified/gelled.

When I saw the clumps of jelly on the side of the pot in the photo to the left, I knew that my juice had turned to jelly.

Canning:

After you've decided that your juice has reached the gelling point, can it in a water bath canner, in 1/2 pint (8 oz.) jars, with 1/4" of headspace, for 10 minutes.